


The Economics of Foraging

by Littleshebear



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Season of the Chosen, The Red War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29549673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littleshebear/pseuds/Littleshebear
Summary: Saladin attempts to recruit Hawthorne to convince Zavala that his strategy against Caiatl is ill-advised. It does not go well.
Relationships: Suraya Hawthorne/Zavala
Kudos: 17





	The Economics of Foraging

Years spent alone in the wilds had left Suraya Hawthorne with an uncanny ability to discern whenever she was being watched. Being able to sense the gaze of a hungry bear often meant the difference between life and death when she was alone in the woods. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, causing her to pause as she fed Louis a strip of meat. The conscious part of her mind had to remind the fear centres of her brain that there were no bears in The City. Still, her amygdala was telling her that whatever loomed behind her was every bit as threatening as a bear, so she looked back over her shoulder to see what was setting her off. 

“Ah. Lord Saladin.” The fight or flight response suddenly made sense. “Banner’s not till next week, clan bounties will be ready to roll out then.”

“That’s not why I’m here,” he said, stepping a little closer before halting and placing his hands behind his back. “You fought in the Red War, yes?”

Suraya frowned. “I did.”

“And you have the ear of the Commander.”

“I do.” 

Saladin took a deep breath. “I was wondering if you could speak with him for me.”

“I might.” 

Saladin exhaled sharply, clearly irritated with her monosyllabic, non-committal answers. “I know he values your opinion and I know he discusses strategy with you, as ill-advised as I think that might be.”

Suraya turned to face him at this, placing her hands on her hips. 

“You’ve fought the Cabal,” Saladin continued, either unaware of her annoyance or not caring one whit about it. “Make him see the folly of picking away at their forces. We both know what they’re capable of, we should meet them head on.”

She stared back at him for a moment before shaking her head. “No.”

“No?”

“No,” she shrugged. “I agree with him.”

“How  _ can  _ you? You saw what they did during the Red War, slaughtering Guardian and Lightless alike. They offer no quarter, we should give them none.”

“I’m no apologist for the Red Legion, you don’t have to tell me what they did.” She folded her arms and leaned forward. “I was there.” 

Saladin’s expression contorted into a snarl and for a moment she thought he might growl like one of the wolves engraved on his armour. 

She continued before he had a chance to reprimand her for the jibe. “You want to smash the Cabal in one, fell swoop but Zavala favours precision. A hammer is intimidating sure, but a scalpel is just as deadly if you know where to cut.”

“Subtlety is lost on the Cabal, better to cow them, show them the power of the Light.” He cocked his head to the side, looking down his nose at her. “Not something you would understand.”

Suraya tilted her chin up and shot him a humourless smile. “I’m no Lightbearer. But I’ll tell you what I do understand: The economics of foraging.” 

Saladin’s expression melted from one of condescension to utter bafflement. “The what?”

“Have you met Louis?” She jabbed her thumb towards the falcon on his perch. “He’s a peregrine falcon, you know much about them?”

“I…” Saladin hesitated. “No. I suppose not.”

“They’re amazing!” She spread her hands out. “As predators, they’re in a league of their own. See his guy?” She gestured to Louis. “He can reach speeds of sixty miles an hour in level flight. If he’s in a stoop? He can go two hundred miles an hour, easy.”

“The zoology lesson is fascinating but where are you going with this?” 

“Here’s the thing though,” Suraya carried on with her lecture, ignoring his irritation. “As incredible as he is, half the time? His hunts will fail. The prey will get away or, something bigger, like an eagle, will swoop in and steal his kill because he’s exhausted from the hunt. All that energy, all those resources spent for nothing. Life as an apex predator is one of constant risk. It’s easy for him to overstretch himself.”

“I see what you’re trying to say.” Saladin interjected, “But Guardians are not animals.”

“The principle applies. If Louis finds carrion, why bother hunting? He’ll pick that corpse clean rather than risk exhausting himself during a hunt. That’s the economics of foraging. Why expend that energy if scavenging gets you the same result? The same goes for warfare. It’s all about resource allocation. Zavala won’t risk everything in an all-out assault if we can achieve our goals by exploiting Cabal rituals.” She switched tack slightly to put it in terms he might understand. “It’s the same reason wolves pick out the young and injured. Low risk, high reward.” 

“And when there is no carrion? When there are no injured or young to prey on?” Saladin said, gamely taking on the analogy. “What then? Zavala won’t be able to shy away from the hard decisions then.”

“He doesn’t shy away from  _ anything. _ ” Suraya closed the gap between them and drew herself up to her full fraction of his height. “He led the charge to take back the City in the Red War, he nearly died. More than once.”

Saladin didn’t back away at her advance. “I know he’s no coward. But a Commander needs to be willing to sacrifice their forces for the greater good. He hasn’t accepted that yet but he needs to.”

“Do you know how many evacuation ships he lost during the exodus after the Tower fell? I do. He told me.” She swallowed hard. “He ordered them through the Cabal blockade because he had no choice.” She gritted her teeth. “He made the hard decision then, while you hid on your mountain, and he still has nightmares about it. It’s why he doesn’t sleep,” she hissed. 

“And how would you know that?” He asked. 

She dropped her gaze to the floor. “We talk,” she answered after a brief, sullen silence. 

“The Red War was not an aberration.” Saladin’s voice took on a slightly more conciliatory tone. “The hard days will come back and he’ll need to make those difficult decisions again. He won’t always be able to find a clever way out.”

“Then we’ll be with him to fight at his side,” The mortal glared up at the Iron Lord. “Won’t we?”

Saladin gave a solemn nod. “You have my word.” He backed away and gestured towards Louis. “Fine animal you have there.”

“Yeah.” Suraya folded her arms again and looked away. “We’ll talk next week.”

“Until then.” Saladin cleared his throat and descended the steps to the bazaar. 

Suraya glared after his retreat, turned back to Louis and resumed feeding him. “Well.” She stroked his breast feathers with her knuckles. “I think he likes  _ you _ , at least.”


End file.
